Muslims nearly impossible to elect in Bible Belt

In fact, observers of Southern politics can't even remember a candidate.

The smart money says a snowball has a better chance you-know-where than a Muslim has being elected to statewide or national office from Northeast Florida - or anywhere else in the Bible Belt.

If the recent hullabaloo surrounding Parvez Ahmed's appointment to the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission didn't confirm that, maybe this does: Observers of Southern politics and religion can't recall a single Muslim candidate running for major office.

"I thought about it, and I couldn't come up with any names," said Ken Wald, a political science professor and expert on religion and politics at the University of Florida.

"Of all the places, the South is the least likely for that to happen," Wald said.

The reason: The region is dominated by evangelical Protestantism, "a religion that has intellectual difficulties with religious diversity."

Not that the rest of the country is welcoming Muslims into public office with open arms.

There are just two Muslims in Congress. The first, from Minnesota, was elected to the House in 2006. The other is from Indiana. Both candidates caused consternation among conservatives nationwide.

"Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies," commentator Glenn Beck asked then Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn. "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way."

Sadie Fields, executive director of the Georgia Christian Alliance, said similar questions would plague any Muslim running for office in the South.

"The real stumbling block would be the trust factor," she said. "In light of the threats to our national security that occur on a semi-regular basis, I think it would be very difficult for a confessing Muslim to convince Christians to vote for them."

Evangelicals in particular feel that way about Islam, which relegates Jesus to mere prophet status, as well as Mormons, who have added to the Bible with the Book of Mormon.

The latter explains why Mormon Mitt Romney had to repeatedly speak about his faith during his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2008.

"Some Christians are concerned that Mormons describe themselves as Christians," Wald said. "You used to hear the same thing about Catholics from evangelicals, who more or less felt the pope was the Antichrist."

But unlike Catholics, Mormons and Muslims have yet to enjoy the political clout that comes with being the largest single religious group in the nation, Wald added. Both groups typically rank well below other religious groups - but still above atheists - in political polls.

In Florida, a Muslim running for governor would have trouble raising money or getting their message past the accusations of connections to terrorist groups.

"If you had a Muslim who was born and bred in the United States, achieved success personally and had a record as a military hero, that is what it would take to dispel some of the images that are out there," Wald said.

Questions of national loyalty

Mario Piscatella doesn't think it would take that sterling of a resume for a Muslim to win office in Florida or anywhere else in the South.

It's about convincing voters a candidate is best qualified to improve their communities, said the political consultant and veteran Democratic campaign manager from St. Johns County.

"If the candidate got into the race to spread their Islamic faith, that's probably going to be a tough race," Piscatella said. "If it's because roads are in disrepair, then that's what they should be talking about."

One piece of advice he'd give a Muslim candidate is to give up trying to win over evangelicals and others who are convinced all Muslims are terrorists. "Those folks who were against Parvez were never his to get."

That means not trying to emphasize values Muslims share with conservative Christians, like viewing gay marriage, divorce and abortion as immoral.

Stick to the main issues

If questions of national loyalty and terrorism are raised, the candidate should answer them and then move the discussion back to the economy, taxes, roads or whatever a community's main issues are, Piscatella said.

"If you have done those things right, the majority of the people aren't going to pay attention to the fact that you're a Muslim or a Jew or a black guy in a white district," he said. "They want to know what you can do for this country, this community or whatever you are running for."

Issues or not, a Muslim would have almost no chance getting elected in Duval County at the moment, said Marcella Washington, a political scientist at Florida State College at Jacksonville.

"That's not going to fly here in Jacksonville," she said. "The city has always been on the cusp of being extremely conservative when it comes to religion."

Washington is convinced the difficulty Ahmed faced resulted in part from his dark complexion and the fact he isn't American born.

"Any Arab-American can now sympathize with the plight of African-Americans," she said.

Coupled with the belief of some that "every single Muslim is an enemy" because of 9/11, getting elected to the mayor's office or City Council in Duval County "would be an uphill battle," Washington said.

'Going to take time'

Former Jacksonville mayor and state legislator Tommy Hazouri got a little taste of that when running for office in the 1980s and '90s.

Seeing the firestorm that engulfed Ahmed "brought me back to thinking of when I ran for mayor," said Hazouri, a Christian of Lebanese descent.

An opponent claimed an Arab could never win the mayor's office, a fact proven wrong by his 1987-1991 stint in the mayor's office and another 12 years in Tallahassee.

On another occasion, opponents doctored photographs of Hazouri, a current Duval County School Board member, to make him resemble former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"I would have hoped that we would have taken a giant step forward," he said. "I don't think we've come far enough."

"In an evangelical region, like the Bible Belt is, I think it would be very difficult for a confessing Muslim to get elected to office," said Fields of the Christian Alliance.

Such a candidate would at a minimum have to admit that 9/11 and the Fort Hood shootings were terrorist acts and then go a step further by publicly condemning them, Fields said.

The Rev. Larry Lowry of Jacksonville said evangelicals would also have deep concerns about that candidate's intentions, if any, to infuse legislation and government with Muslim values.

Conservative, born-again Christians will also want to know if the candidate "has any ties to any type of terrorist groups, and how do they feel about those kinds of things?" said Lowry, a local pastor and bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy's Northeast Florida congregations.

One Muslim leader said the ongoing War on Terrorism has helped put all Muslims under a microscope that makes it hard for them to even be appointed to office as the Ahmed case demonstrated.

"Our only exposure in the media has been as terrorists," said Mohammad Ilyas, Southeastern president of the Islamic Circle of North America and a member of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida. What's needed are education efforts and interfaith dialogue to chip away at the myth that all Muslims are extremists, he said.

In the near future, Muslim candidates for public office should include that kind of information in their campaigns.

But history, Ilyas said, proves this situation won't last forever. There was a time when Jews and blacks were considered largely unelectable in some parts of the country, but that is no longer the case.

For the time being, Muslims with political ambitions may have to aim low, seeking seats on school boards or city councils.

It doesn't matter if it's the bible belt or the Northeast liberal corridor, it's tough for a Mulim to get some type of politically elected position of public service. First off, the last few sentences state it all. If Muslims want to serve in publically elected office, they're going to have to start at school boards or city councils. Before Keith Ellison was elected to Congress (the first Muslim elected to Congress), he had served in the state legislature. How many Muslims serve in the Florida State legislature or any other state legislator? No matter what office a Muslim would run for, their religion would be an issue - even if they ran for dog catcher. Unfortunately, 9/11, Major Hasan, Time Squares failed bomb attempt taint all Muslims with the brand of radical terrorist jihad fundamentalist suicide bomber Muslim. Almost all major Muslim political support groups are branded with the designation of terrorists supporters - and the Holy Land Trial only created new political fodder which makes it easier to tag any Muslim political candidate as being supported by those "who support terrorism". It's good to see Mr. Parvez Ahmed appointed to the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission - it wasn't easy and it was certainly very contentious. It's hard to tell whether or not he had the support of the general public for that appointment but if I take what the "right-wing nut cases" said, then it's not good. I hope my country never resorts to the Swiss solution for its Muslim populace - where mosques have now been virtually banned by a democratic vote in that country(in Switzerland, Muslims were politically ostracized from that country and the Muslim political community in that county attempt to mount a successful counter campaign to stop the construction of mosques in that country was met with an overwhelming support of a vote to restrict the construction of new mosques in that country). Only by including Muslims in the voting populace will America be successful in integrating Muslims into its democratic process. Oddly enough, Muslims enjoy far more political success in Europe than in the United States despite suffering from far more discrimination in Europe than in the United States. Most candidates running for office - including my proverbial dog catcher - shy away from campaigning for the Muslim vote. Obama didn't campaign for the Muslim vote nor are any of the current candidates running for Senate or for Governor in Florida. Politically speaking, Muslims are political pariah - marginalized and disenfranchised from the political process. The appointment of Parvez Ahmed is a step in the right direction but it's a baby step. And since the election of Ellison to congress, another Muslim has also been elected to Congress. People will say what they want and the bible belters will continue to pray for redemption for those who vote to put Muslims in office (while condemning the election of Muslims to office). This is a difficult issue but it's not one just special to the bible belt.

You are about the ONLY person on here who has it right! Jacksonville should be ashamed. Most people on here do have valid points, but to compare America to Muslim countries is a faulty premise. Jacksonville is blessed to have a relatively diverse population, and instead of fighting that we should embrace it. I myself have always considered myself to be a part of the vast right wing conspiracy, etc. (I must lay down my credentials in order to be listened to on these boards). I was treasurer of college republicans at my university in Atlanta and helped to make that organization top tier status at the university and helped fund 17 of our members to attend this year's CPAC. We have members from Boston to Cali and all over the place, and what I have noticed is that everyone brings a different perspective to the table.

Why should it not be the same in all aspects of our politics and in our culture? We are America for God's sake! Growing up in Jax, and now being a central part of College Republicans for four years, I have become so turned off of religion and social conservatism that I do not think I'll ever go back. I have noticed the more educated the person, the more tolerant the person. I would like to come back to Jacksonville some day as a leader (as a developer of downtown and our wonderful urban neighborhoods that have so much potential but the people of Jax don't see that and don't care), but the city has a looonnngggg way to go before people who are cultured and educated and exposed to different areas outside of NE Florida (and have money to bring with them) feel like the city is a good place to invest in and settle down in.

Some may feel the position of Director of Human Rights Commission is a wasteful position and should not even exist. That may be true in some parts, but from what I can tell, Jacksonville is a city in this country that needs it the most!

Also to all of you hypocritical Southern Baptists/evangelicals who don't want any part of anyone from differing backgrounds, if you want to sway people to your religion and your denomination in particular, you might want to think of leading by example. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't you think it is child's play to act intolerantly toward a Muslim simply because other countries that are ruled by his religion are intolerant of you? Who cares! He is not intolerant of you, and he is from India!!! India is not Syria, fyi.

Yea the Jags helped put Jax on the map, but ever since the rest of the country has now seen why Jax has not been on the map: we are a dumb hick town with the most intolerant people and we cannot accept any kind of change whatsoever! I just tell people I am from Florida to avoid further embarassment.

Your offense at the statement "pray to your God" is laughable. You profess dismay? If you had ever attended military worship services you would know that when it is time to pray, that is exactly what military chaplains- ARE REQUIRED to say. Does that offend you?

Give me a break.....CAIR is a terrorist support organization plain and simple.

Can Mr. Brumley tell us the chances of a Christian being elected to office in the Fertile Crescent, or the Swat Valley, or the Punjab Region? Could a person even publicly be a Christian in those places?

How can you blame one population for not choosing a public representative who they perceive to be unreconcilably alien from them?

Americans, as we sometimes forget, are also humans.

This smacks of poor journalism. The author simply wants to utilize a recent episode to stir up the hornet's nest. Many of us were ashamed of the behavior of our leaders. We do not react positively to having it rubbed in our faces, Mr. Brumley. There is no perfect world.